One of my biggest problems with my students is when they don't put their name on their paper... I say it about 100 times in 100 different ways before they turn their paper in...
"Remember the first thing you should do is put your name on your paper."
"Don't forget to write your name."
"Third grade, I'm walking around and I see lots of no names."
"My oh my, I have lots of no name orphans in this class."
Anyway, I'm sure you all do the same. And you'll still have papers with NO names on them.
So, instead of pulling out my hair I put some highlighters inside a cup near my in bin. The children are now required to highlight their names before turning their paper in. You can't miss the cup, because it's blocking the in bin. It has a big STOP on it.
The children LOVE to use highlighters, so it's a win-win.
I love the highlighter idea!
ReplyDeleteWith my students (I used to teach elementary and now teach middle school), I make an announcement and ask that all students with their name on their paper put their hand on their head/finger on their nose/both hands on their cheeks. Then I say "if your hand is not on your head (or whatever direction I gave), please put your name on your paper right now." It works better with elementary kids, but I have found it be effective.
I found a great printable sign to use highlighters at Teaching in Flip Flops (under her zebra section) just this year. It has been a miracle cure! Now I just need to make sure EVERYBODY turns their stuff in!
ReplyDeleteI have a good cure for that too, Debbi... I used to have an "unfinished work" folder. But kids would never check it and I was always chasing them around for their work.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do now is each kid has a mailbox and their unfinished work goes in there. That way I can actually SEE who needs to turn stuff in.
Any work that they are still working on when it's time to move on goes there. Hope that helps you!